May and June in History

Russian composer, director and pedagogue Anatoly Lyadov was born on May 11, 1855 (April 29, old style), in Novgorod region. Lyadov came from a musicians’ family – his father was the conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre and his mother was a pianist. Lyadov was a student of the famous composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1878, he himself started teaching in the St. Petersburg Conservatory and educated such famous composers as Sergei Prokofiev and Mikhail Gnesin. In the middle of the 1870s, Lyadov was a member of the Moguchaya Kuchka (“The Mighty Five”). Lyadov was not one of Russia’s more prolific composers, but his work has a very distinctive style. The composer often drew on folklore and fairytales (“Baba-Yaga” (1905), “Eight Russian Folk Tales”(1906), “The Magic Lake”(1909), “Kikimora” (1910). He died in 1914.

May 1, 1800

Emperor Pavel I decreed a ban on the import of foreign books and music.

May 15, 1835

Alexander Pushkin’s famous Skazka o rybake i rybke (“The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish”) was published. 

May 27, 1795

The first state public library (Imperial Public Library), was opened in Russia.

May 15, 1935

The first Moscow Metro line, with 13 grand looking stations, was opened. There were no automatic token machines, and tickets were sold in ticket offices.

May 8, 1910

Nikolai Gumilev and Anna Gorenko, better known under her penname  Akhmatova, were married in Nikolayevskaya Church of Nikolskaya Slobodka village. A week later, they left on their honeymoon to Paris.